From The Archives - October 2014

Paul Ricca, better known as “The Waiter” was a Chicago mobster who served as the nominal or defacto of the Chicago Outfit for forty years.

At the age of 17, Paul Ricca began working for organized crime in Naples, Italy. In 1915, he murdered Emilion Parrilo for breaking an engagement to his sister but in reality it was mafia orders. After he served two years in prison, Ricca killed Vincenzo Capasso, who testified against Ricca in the Parillo trial. After killing Capasso, Ricca took the name Paolo Maglio and fled to the United States. On August 10, 1920 when he arrived to NYC, he Americanized his name to “Paul Ricca”. Shortly after arriving in the United States, Ricca moved to Chicago where he found a job as a waiter working under Joseph “Diamond Joe” Esposito. Ricca had the reputation of an easy-going and sweet-talking businessman. Ricca was soon on a first name basis with many of the mobsters who came in the door, including Al Capone. Capone regularly visited the restaurant and Ricca was soon hired as a full-time gangster. He rose quickly among the ranks of the mob; for instance, Capone was the best man in his wedding in 1927. Ricca also served as Capone’s emissary on the east coast. In May of 1932, Capone was sent to Atlanta U.S. Penitentiary and Frank Nitti became the new official boss of the Chicago Outfit. Ricca was promoted as the new underboss, however, by nearly all accounts; Ricca was the boss in all but the name. Ricca frequently overruled Nitti’s orders.  Johnny Roselli,  the Outfit captain who was sent to Hollywood to extort the major movie studios like RKO, Paramount, MGM, and 20^th Century Fox made major inroads in accomplishing that. On March 18, 1973, the top capos of the Chicago Outfit met at Nitti’s home. At this meeting, Ricca ordered Nitti to take the fall for them all. Nitti was facing a 15-year sentence in federal prison. This suggestion didn’t go over well with Nitti, and the next day he committed suicide at a local railroad yard. Ricca now took over as head of the Chicago mob and appointed enforcement Chief Tony Accardo as underboss.

On December 30, 1943 a federal jury found Ricca and his associates guilty resulting in a 10-year sentence for Ricca. With the help of Murray “The Camel” Humphreys the Chicago’s mob political “fixer”, Ricca and Rosselli were out in three years. As a result of his parole, Ricca was no longer to be present in the company of mobsters. However, no decision was made without his knowledge. Ricca was known for being soft-spoken, but also could be very ruthless. Whenever he wanted, someone hit, he famously ordered, “Make’a him go away”. He supported taking several members of the Forty-Two Gang into the mob, including Sam Giancana. Ricca eventually acquitted and moved to Detroit where he lived until his death. He died from a heart attack on October 11, 1972.